A woman declared dead at a crash scene miraculously survived and is recovering in hospital.
Fernanda Cristina Policarpo was hit by a car after stepping onto a motorway.
A paramedic from the Samu ambulance service pronounced her dead and arranged for her body to be sent to the morgue.
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A photo from the scene showed her lying in the middle of the road, covered with a foil blanket.
At this time, Fernanda’s devastated mother was informed that her daughter had died on Sunday (18 Jan).
However, shortly afterwards, a second paramedic, from the company that manages the motorway, arrived to help remove the body.
And he noticed that, despite her multiple severe injuries, Fernanda was still breathing – so he immediately began resuscitation.
She was taken from the SP-294 motorway to a nearby A&E, and later transferred to the ICU at a hospital in Bauru, in Brazil’s São Paulo state, where she remains on life support.
On Tuesday (20 Jan) evening, the hospital announced that Fernanda is recovering so well that her breathing tube may be removed in the coming days.
They said: “The neurosurgery team has begun tapering her sedatives to allow a gradual awakening under observation and is weaning her off mechanical ventilation to assess whether she can be safely extubated.”
The driver involved in the crash, who stopped to provide assistance, was breathalysed and questioned at the scene.
He claimed that Fernanda stepped onto the road suddenly, leaving him no time to brake.
He is currently under investigation for causing injury by careless driving, as reported by Need To Know.
Fernanda’s mother, who had been told her daughter was dead, said she was in shock and “didn’t know what to believe” when she discovered Fernanda was still alive.
Adriana told local media: “My daughter was left exposed in the middle of the road for ages. If they had helped her straight away, her condition wouldn’t be so serious.
“She hit her head, and head injuries are dangerous. I believe that if she had been treated immediately, the situation would have been less severe.”
Samu has opened an internal inquiry and suspended the paramedic who initially declared Fernanda dead, pending the outcome.
Bauru Council, which oversees the ambulance service, is also investigating.
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